


stars in my eyes

by NewTrueBlue03



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Gen, Laser Tag, M/M, One Shot, dumb YA novel references, if you squint you'll see me use guns as euphemisms, ish, what if we kissed in the laser tag arena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewTrueBlue03/pseuds/NewTrueBlue03
Summary: In retrospect, inviting their group of ultra-competitive friends to a match at Lasertopia was not the smartest plan in the world.aka. Two very competitive girls, one laser tag night.
Relationships: Denali/Rosé (Drag Race)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 64





	stars in my eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks! I figured this fandom desperately needs more Rosnali fics, so here are my two cents.  
> I wrote the characters with she/her pronouns, however, I intentionally made it up to your interpretation if this is f/f or m/m "canon" compliant with drag pronouns. 
> 
> The title is drawn from "Hallucinate" by Dua Lipa.

She knew she was around here, somewhere.  
Denali’s gun was poised and eyes alert, looking for any glimpse of bright, cotton-candy pink.

In retrospect, inviting their group of ultra-competitive friends to a match at Lasertopia was not the smartest plan in the world.  
It had all started when Utica suggested they spend their free Friday night at a more “wholesome and healthy” institution other than the nightclub (though if Denali were being honest, she thought to be a bit hypocritical coming from the girl who spent many weekends looking down the barrel of a bong). The girls had reluctantly agreed to the suggestion of laser tag over the club under one condition – that they pre at Mik’s beforehand. Now, a few hours of running, shooting, and sweating later, those half dozen tequila shots seemed more regrettable than ever.

See, the thing was, Denali never did anything half-assed. Years of competitive skating, dancing, and choreographing made sure of that. And now here she was, having ruthlessly shot down her friends-turned-targets to leave all but one other girl left with lives in the arena.

“Nice hiding spot.”

 _Shit._  
Denali whipped her head in the direction of the voice to see Rosé pointing her gun from the floor above her, her cotton candy hair glowing like a halo in the neon light. She rolled over across the wall just in time to narrowly evade her friend’s beam. She then ran – _how did she get up there?_ – towards the closest ramp up the next level. Now that she knew where she was, there was no _way_ that she was going to let Rosé get away with finding her like that. Up on the next floor, she spotted her in the same place she was before. Before she could take aim, Rosé turned around and pointed her gun at her vest. Denali quickly ducked, and once again, narrowly avoided the shot.

It was time she changed her tactic. Crouching, she slowly crawled along the walls of the maze, moving towards Rosé’s post. With her footsteps so quiet, she could hear her heart pounding in her chest, and caught herself grinning ear to ear. There was just something about competing with Rosé that was so addictive – from cards to shots, there was always this challenge in the other girl’s voice and smile that was exhilarating. Denali couldn’t wait to wipe the smug look off her friend’s face with her victory.

“’Naliiiiii….,” Rosé’s melodic voice taunted, echoing in the air of the arena’s chambers. Judging by the volume, she was close. “Denali, honey, I miss your face! Can you please show it to me?”  
_Fat chance._  
Classic Rosé, choosing dramatics over tactics. Denali found it easy enough to follow her voice. Sure enough, the next corner she peeked her head around had her friend’s unmissable pink figure.  
Denali carefully, quietly took aim for Rosé’s vest. She had one shot at this – otherwise, her gun’s sound would give away her position. She took a slow, silent inhale, and on her exhale, pulled the trigger.  
The gun made its signature _pew!_ sound, yet instead of alighting her friend’s vest, the shot landed just above Rosé’s shoulder on the adjacent wall. Rosé immediately whisked her head around towards the source of the noise.

 _“Dammit!”_ Denali exclaimed. She quickly turned around and began running to make a swift exit from the scene, but then realized she had rounded a dead end because, well, of course she did. With little other option, she pressed herself back against the wall with her gun towards the opening. Rosé’s footsteps, and then Rosé herself, soon followed. As she rounded the corner, a sly grin erupted on her face when she saw the position she found Denali in.  
“Looks like someone’s got themselves backed into a corner,” she teased, gun raising.  
Denali smirked back, “Don’t get so cocky,” eyes darting down to indicate her gun’s aiming light bullseye on Rosé’s chest. Rosé’s smile faltered, then, after a moment of what appeared to be calculation, it returned.

  
“We could both eat the nightlock, you know.”

  
Denali’s brows raised. “What are you saying?”  
“We could both shoot each other at the same time and tie. Then nobody wins, and everybody wins. Well, you know, not _everybody._ But…” She gave Denali a pointed look, “The people that count.” Rosé took one step forward, then another, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Go down like the team we are. Break the Lasertopia system.”  
Denali laughed, yet she felt her grip on her trigger loosen as the other girl approached. “That’s not very like you and I, to settle at a tie.” As Rosé continued to silently bridge the space between them, Denali swallowed, then said, “And what makes you think I’d believe you wouldn’t shoot first?”

  
Rosé’s gaze softened. “Maybe if I told you that I prefer to be on a team with you than against you.”

Denali was suddenly feeling very, _very_ dizzy from the tequila from earlier.

  
At this point, there was only a foot’s worth of space between the two of their faces, their guns pressed right against each other’s chests. Denali could smell her friend’s floral-scented perfume from here. She found herself gazing at Rosé’s pink lips, and up to her green-blue eyes.  
She opened her mouth to respond with a quip of her own, then found herself interrupted with a _“Mmft!”_ as those pinks lips closed the little distance between the two of them. Denali stiffened, then let the tension release out of her body as she melted into the kiss. _God, yes._ She hadn’t realized how much she had wanted exactly _this_ for how long until she had it in her hands. Her grip on the gun dropped with a clatter, and her hands made their way to her friend’s hips and hair. And just as she was about to give her friend’s strands a good tug –

  
_Pew!_

  
Denali froze. She looked down at her vest, now glowing red for “DEAD”, and Rosé’s gun cocked against it. She then looked back up at Rosé - cheeks flushed, eyes blown, _oh god, she did that_ , yet also sporting the most punchable smug grin on her face.

  
“ You _bitch_ ,” Denali spat, feeling anger, embarrassment, and the slightest bit of pride well inside her.  
Rosé laughed as she quickly back stepped out of the alley, “Hey, there’s no way I would have beat you otherwise!” Denali huffed, yet felt her chest warm at the compliment.

  
Before the other girl rounded the bend, she paused. Looking over her shoulder, said in a low voice that Denali almost missed it, “Besides, I think I speak for both us when I say that was a mutual victory, game aside.” She gave Denali one last soft smile, then disappeared around the corner. Denali’s chest fluttered, and she smiled to herself.  
Perhaps if defeat from Rosé tasted like _that_ , she wouldn’t mind losing to her a bit more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Apologies if the flow was a bit rough - all I've been writing has been academic papers for the past five years, and this is my first fic in a very very long time. So this was a nice break and such a joy to write!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I liked creating it! Please leave kudos and comments if you did (or if you didn't, really!). Any feedback is much appreciated :)


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